This experiment was conducted at the Brasília Agricultural College - Federal District, and studied the dynamics of appearance and death of tillers as well as leaf elongation in three positions of the stump (central, intermediate and peripheral) of Paspalum atratum cv. Pojuca, submitted to four rotational grazing cycle of 10 days use and 30 days resting. A descriptive analysis was applied using a hierarchical model. Nitrogen was applied at a rate of 40 kg/ha, in the form of ammonium sulfate before each grazing cycle. The area was divided in two sets of four pickets of 0.4 ha each and two other areas of about 6 m² used as a reference for the purpose of quantifying the effect of grazing. The tillers were counted in 120 squares with 0.25 m² area distributed in the eight pickets and the other eight in the non grazed areas. The highest tillering occurred during cycle 2, coinciding with the highest precipitation. The species showed a low level of tiller death during the studied period. Grazing did not reduce the tillering during the vegetative growth phase. Leaf elongation had its highest values in cycles 1 and 2 and lowest in cycles 3 and 4. The highest elongations occurred in the periferic and middle positions and the lowest in the central position of the stump.
growth dynamics; tillers
